1.) Noah was not a Genocidal fanatic.

In the movie, Noah is portrayed as a man chosen to ensure mankind's annihilation. Rather, Jehovah used Noah to try and turn the people away from their ruinous course. We know from 2 Peter 2:5 that Noah was "a preacher of righteousness." Moreover, long before Noah, Enoch was already preaching about the coming judgment (Jude 14, 15). We are never given any indication in the Bible that God had predetermined for only 8 humans to be saved and nobody else. Otherwise, Noah's preaching would have been meaningless, a cruel hoax.

2.) Nobody besides Noah's family cared.

In the Movie "Noah," Many besides Noah and his family are aware of the coming judgment and ostensibly ask Noah to stop it. This is contrary to what Jesus said at Matthew 24:38, 39. There he states that the citizens of the pre-flood world "took no note until the flood came and swept them all away."

3.) Everybody was probably a vegetarian.

In the movie,Tubal-Cain (Gen 4:22), the antagonist, is portrayed as a humanist and ruthless industrialist who believes mankind is worth saving. He eats meat, ravages wildlife, and exploits the earth... which is ironic, considering that everyone was likely vegetarian prior to the flood. Mankind was not given all the animals to eat until after the flood, in Genesis 9:3.

4.) The Nephilim were not nice.

The height of Aronofsky's "artistic license" comes with his "watchers", which are portrayed as six-armed fallen angels who aid Noah in the construction of the ark. The Hebrew word Neph'i'lim means "fellers," or "those who cause others to fall down." Given this, it would thus be unrealistic to think they were actually "nice."

5.) There were good people among those destroyed by the flood.

Genesis 6:5 tells us uneqivocally that "every inclination of the thoughts of [mankind's] heart was only bad all the time" in the pre-flood world. The movie portrays things differently, implying that there were good people destroyed by the flood. If God spared Lot from destruction, why would he not have done the same for other "good people" when the deluge came?

6.) Noah did not shut the door on the ark.

When the floodwaters came and swept over the surface of the earth, The Bible tells us at Genesis 7:16 that "Jehovah shut the door behind [Noah]." In the movie, Noah fiercely pushes away those trying to get into the ark, saying to them "Men are going to be punished for what they've done to this world."

Much of the rest of the "artistic license" taken in the movie is excusible, to the extent that the creator uses magic seeds to spring forth trees for lumber and portrays Methusaleh as a nutty old man who is obsessed with foraging for berries (granted, he was around 990 years old at the time). However, the points I mention stood out to me as the most potentially misleading, particularly if the spiritually-minded flock to this movie looking for something more than entertainment and recreation.

So, for those of you planning to see it, have fun. Enjoy it. But remember that the book is always better than the movie. -Tgorle1@umbc.edu

Reviews taken from Wall Street Journal and New York Times.